What if Harry Potter got sorted into Slytherin - The sorting ceremony
by mxbertman
Summary: Harry Potter hated the idea of being associated with the dark arts so begged the sorting hat not to sort him into Slytherin, but what if the sorting hat hadn't listened to Harry's plea: What if Harry got sorted into Slytherin. This story is AU, but still coheres to the plot (at least in the beginning), it will cover much more detail and be quite slow paced.
1. Hogsmeade station

**Disclaimer** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just play around with the story and the personalities a bit.

 **A/N** Another one-shot at Harry's live sorted into Slytherin. I have left the other story up so anyone can see, but that one is pretty bad though.

 **Summary** Harry leaves the rainy train station and heads out towards the Hogwarts castle gates.

* * *

The Sorting ceremony - Hogsmeade Station

It was a dreary day, the rainy clouds rushed over Hogsmeade station and Harry Potter's clothes were slowly getting soaked by thick droplets of heavily pattering rain. This rain had started around half-way the train ride to Hogwarts and he knew, by experience or just by instinct, that the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon and waiting for the clouds to break would be a mere waste of time. The colossal, perhaps a bit oblong looking clock, attached to a way too small looking pole, was shimmering indecisively, probably because of the wearing effects of an age-old charm or maybe just the inexplicable nature of rain, now heavily struck seventeen, its sound magically magnified seemed to originate from all around. Harry, looking for a dry place to stand, for the howling, cold wind was blowing away any warmth and comfort he had on the train, mixed with his mounting insecurity whether he would be accepted at the promised wizarding school made him feel just increasingly miserable and incidentally quite near vomiting, though sheer luck and a bit of fresh air saved him from that fate. Now looking at the train he saw nothing but a seemingly unending stream of students, who were almost unwillingly leaving the cozy warmth of the express, pushed into the rain by the few people desperately wanting to get out, then hurried over to their groups of friends and Harry noticed, with a pang of pain, that he was one of the only ones standing all alone, surrounded by tight, small groups of friends whispering in hushed voices.

Ron was nowhere to be seen, for was waiting in one of the long lines leading to the many train toilets, most likely to wash his face he had and to give him some necessary breathing room to calm down his insecurities and nerves, which Harry knew weren't insignificant. Looking over into the smudged windows of the train he watched him stand in a long row of all different people, mostly first- and second-years and one or two annoyed looking sixth-year students. Ron was looking dead-pale and tightly clutching the brass railing, which was magically over-reflective, a bit weathered by its many years of over-extensive use and coloured a shade of dark gold with some brighter patches mixed in, which, the railing that is, Harry knew from his little experience he'd had on the train, contained not-insignificant amounts of sticky, old magical candy not unlike the muggle, as the wizards call non-magical folk, chewing gum or toffee. He saw him leaning against the dark red velvet one could always find on the walls of movie theatres or circuses, slowly crinkling up with tiny air-filled wrinkles, that Harry would always try to even out when he was dead-bored in a waiting room, without exception worsening the whole situation.

This reminded him of this one time he was seven and the Dursleys brought him to a movie theatre, when Harry was so frustrated with the velvet, it, in a pool of shimmering light that only he seemed to notice, first unwrinkled, then this horrible smell of overdue stake came up, the velvet turned green and ripped open. Vernon, his uncle, had to pay for Harry's damage and in one of his usual bad moods, got so angry that he, red in the face, his temple beating three times its usual size, had locked up Harry afterwards for two days. The train Ron was waiting in was scarlet red, a bit weathered looking and sparkled furiously in the little light, he had spent seven or so happy hours in there on his way to Hogwarts and now in the rain was slowly missing the comfortable bright red en yellow striped couches with those little plucks of hairs sticking out of the firmly packed seats and occasional button holding it all together and it was the place where he had found his first, real friend. Harry had never had someone, he sadly pondered, even when he was very young, every time found a potential friend, his slightly abusive brother had hurt them and added to the fact that he was probably weird in every meaning of the word. Harry Potter was a thin boy with glasses, unmanageable hair and an atypical lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, more recently though, much to his surpise as to his foster parents' shock he was a wizard or at least had some form of raw magical talent.

The clock struck another three times, striking exactly once every seven of Harry's heartbeats, while his nose, scar and eyes, as if he weren't wearing any glasses, were struck by an unnecessarily annoying shower of rain, originating from somewhere near the magical clock. The rain evidently was manipulated by the wind or some unexpected, little, easily missed side effect of a near-perfect magic spell seemed to move near-horizontally, flicker, explode in thousand tiny drops and all and, without exception, seemed to find it's way into Harry's now soaked wet face. The droning of the clock stopped without Harry noticing, till he, almost expectantly, looked over at the still slightly shimmering clock and somehow, for the clock was not alike any muggle clock, noticed a mere three minutes had passed since he had the train. Slowly Harry looked over at the sky, roughly to where he thought the by thick, dark rainclouds obscured sun, a bit surprised not to see the Hogwarts castle anywhere and silently happy no special, slightly magically altered lightning was coming down and looked over to the huge tree-filled - probably mostly with spruce and fir - mountains clouded by mist and other low hanging clouds, which seemed just a bit more concealing than these clouds should. Harry thought back at all those times he wanted to go visit the woods as child, because once his aunt and uncle knew how much he enjoyed the peace and quiet they gave him, they switched over to other alternatives to help Dudley counter his small, but quickly growing, obesity issues.

The rain had added a film of moist over the ground that was attracted to - probably not by gravity, for some water was streaming slightly upwards - but by some intrinsic magic spell, slowly gurgling away in some patches of darker earth with tiny hills on top of them as though they were recently brought there by the many droplets of water. Harry now also noticed, not totally to his surprise his feet were slightly stuck in a layer of age-old mud, some tiny quartz crystals, which Harry would collect fervently in his youth and a whole bunch of plastic, or maybe some strange candy wrappers, that probably were made of some strange magical material, which Harry, not totally unreasonably, believed. He felt one last wisp of cold rain on his face, felt the wind change direction and noticed, much to his delight that the rain was slowing and that the annoying spray of water was all gone now, the droplets got much thicker and slightly, as if by magic, took up the shape of a hamburger. Reminding him vividly of the street-food stand near his house, that his aunt, Petunia, was always talking about sabotaging or making the shopkeeper's life miserable in any other way.

Harry now noticed the buzz of whispered conversations, the humming unknown magic spells and, again, the soft, occasional dripping of the increasingly slimming amount of water droplets from all around him and noticed, briefly looking around, the silent whispers of light emanating from the till presently unnoticed, dim, nearly three-quarter foot high - so one could easily trip over it - magical lights spaced around the station every few feet, that haphazardly decided to turn on, shimmer a bit more brightly, turn its back on you - if that was even possible for a lamp - shine a little bit dimmer for quite some time and ultimately decide it was time to turn off for a little while. His focus was captured by these small, little devices for quite some time till a big, fat drop of water decided to land right on its nose and splatter water in his eyes and wetted his glasses once again. He busied himself drying his lenses with his slightly damp inside of his sweater he wore under his school robe, which, when he was done, seemed quite a feat, and looked up to see if Ron was still waiting at the toilet, he was nowhere to be seen, but luckily the line of waiting students was quickly slimming, he was, Harry mused, probably in the bathroom or, what he thought was more likely, looking around to find him, which in a mess of tall and small, thick or slim, blond of brown haired students, boys and girls, damp with rain, their robes hanging down by fivefold increased weight, nearly visible in the waning light from the sky, was logically speaking nearly impossible, but didn't keep him from feeling a pang of anxiety whether he had forgotten about him.

Quickly glancing over at the clock he saw the slightly bent, crooked dials uncertainly move a bit, then decide it was seventeen twenty-three. Time is a strange thing Harry softly said to himself when he heard the deep, familiar voice of Hagrid, the keeper of grains and keys at Hogwarts, turned round towards the sound and looked into the blue, with maybe a stroke or two of brown mixed in, smiling eyes of a slightly hook-faced girl with slim features and a bemused, maybe slightly self adorning look on her face with long, that is reaching to partly down her arms, perhaps a bit thicker than usual strands of light brownish hair pushed down by the rain and her tad too bony nose was pressed slightly together at the top, as if she'd once worn glasses, while the bottom part of her nose looked similar to an obtuse-angled bilateral triangle and her teeth, which Harry saw only for a split second were slightly yellow and fit remarkably well in her small mouth. Harry looked into her eyes for a mere half second - an awkward eternity - and proceeded looking for the low growl, which was Hagrid's voice. ' _Firs'-years. Firs'-years over here! All righ' there Harry?'_ He found himself looking straight into the beaming, dark, brown eyes of the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid, who wore his usual brown, moleskin coat with more pockets than a observantly watching person could count, because they seemed to scurry all over his coat, as if they were some living creatures, which Harry thought might as well be the case. When they travelled to Diagon Ally that summer the gamekeeper had told him that he had always wanted a pet dragon. Hagrid's mouth, bearded with long curly strands of dark, awfully wet hair, opened up in a tiny little crack, which could very well be a smile. A second look showed Harry he had carefully stowed away his pink umbrella in his moleskin jacket, which Harry found a bit strange, because it was still raining pretty heavily, and was sure either Hagrid hadn't noticed its practical, muggle use or just was too embarrassed of its unusual colour to open it up in from of everyone. Harry now looked at Hagrid's boots that, while distorting the light a bit, not only looked perfectly dry, but also seemed to un-mud the ground around him. Harry saw many students, mostly small - one, however, quite tall - first-years looking nervously over at the gamekeeper, he saw that girl with the light brownish hair and a hooked face, the bushy haired girl by the name of Hermione, who was an unashamed know-it-all and someone, who always feels the need to organize everything, never lets anyone help and after whatever was needed was done answers back, annoyed, saying that always the same people have to do _everything_. With a sigh Harry acknowledged with a sigh the fact that you'd probably always, when you stick a group of more than fifty people, get one of those in there. He also saw Malfoy, a quite pompous, arrogant blonde-haired boy with a stick-like nose, that seems, in his impression, quite like the bully, Harry finally also spotted a red-haired freckled stout boy, probably Ron, with whom he sat on the train, who comes from a somewhat poorer wizard family and seemed like nice boy.

The rain had now started up again and for a change sprayed small little droplets, smaller than the head of a needle, pushed forward by the wind infinitely accelerated, landed all around the right side of his puffy, red - though maybe also a bit blue - face and made the inside of his earlobe itch. He saw most of the people streaming away from the platform to a stand with seemingly self-carrying carriages and saw the insecure looking face of Neville heading there, too. Hagrid seemed to have noticed too, he yelled, perhaps a bit too loud or a wee bit too aggressive ' _Come her', firs'-year, boats are that way_ ' pointing over at a hill quite a bit farther away. ' _C'mon, follow me - any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!_ ' Harry heard Hagrid's droning voice again, looking at the clock he saw the dials of the enchanted clock now point seventeen thirty-seven, and for some unexpected, strange, little reason it decided to strike once, it sounded as if someone had decided to smash a pair of cymbals and for a moment all lights seemed to burn a bit brighter, no one else had noticed this - or cared - though. Hagrid with his magical boots and moleskin jacket took a step, looked over his shoulder if anyone was following, then smiled, nodded and beamed at Harry (he couldn't tell which one, but probably all three). He took out some magical lamp sending away some haphazard flickers of light - for there was only one exit for the light and Hagrid was quite vigorously shaking it - which strangely enough seemed to bend in awkward ways so it cast the whole platform in some kind of dim state of illumination, which was quite necessary, because most of the little lamps were off at that specific moment - what certainly didn't decrease the risk of tripping over one.

Harry noticed his muddy underground covered with candy wrappers again and silently wished he had Hagrid's water-repellent boots, he noticed his wet socks - Harry probably didn't hate anything more than wet, slightly muddy socks, because they feel uncomfortable when on, you can hardly get them off and when off they crumple up into some crusty stubs with a bit of mud baked hard on it. The Hogwarts gamekeeper grumbled in his deep, rumbling voice ' _There's still a long road ahead, keep up y'all, I won't be waiting for stragglers_ ' Harry risked two steps, jumping as though to avoid - quite unsuccessfully - the deeper puddles of water, realized with a shrug he wouldn't be able to keep his feet dry so just walked forward. After another five steps his whole legs up to his knees were soaked with water, he had stepped into a particularly nasty piece of earth, which _pretended_ to be dry, but was actually a half a foot deep and awfully muddy little pool. He saw the blond-haired boy by the name of Malfoy ten maybe fifteen feet ahead of him laughing a bit with his two cronies he had met on the express, they'd tried to bully them, which Scabbers, Ron's fat and sleepy rat, had - thank goodness - prevented. Harry envied Malfoy, because Malfoy had some kind of rain-repelling robe, that though being a bit more reflective seemed to keep him dry and warm, whereas Harry, was feeling cold and miserable. He was sort of waiting for Ron, but still he decided against running up towards him, he was sort of hoping to talk with hook-faced girl. While thinking he hadn't noticed he was staring full at her till she looked back, softly smiled - he, thank god, had the sense to smile back - and walked on.

After twenty-something more steps after Harry and his classmates stopped to see the vast expanse some kind of marble wall and a brick gate up ahead. The bricks were about one-fourth foot long and two-thirds foot wide and one-third foot long stacked so that at the corners the sides started with with bricks length- and widthwise alternately, about five widthwise bricks deep (or if you count starting and ending with a lengthwise block, four more blocks deep). The marble was cracked, weathered and a slight humming noise emanated from it and seemed to be a slightly paler shade of white to the observant watcher, the cracks were filled with shade of dark olive green moss, the outer edges with lichen and with who knows what kind of magical plants mixed in. There was slight shimmering on the other side of the gate and Harry felt his discomfort slowly burn away, a small smile cracked on his a bloodied, dry lips and with this new, devil-may-care attitude he closed his eyes and stepped right through the gate.

 **A/N** So, what do you think? Please leave reviews and follow this story if you want more of this!


	2. The boats

**Disclaimer** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, that right belongs to JK Rowling.  
 **A/N** I might combine the chapters leading up to the feast, so stay tuned! I'll be posting a chapter every few (let's say 5-7) days!  
 **Summary** Harry and the other first-year Hogwarts students take the boats to Hogwarts in stead of the usual Thestral pulled carriages.

* * *

The Sorting ceremony - The boatride

At first he felt only a tingling and pressing feeling - as if he had stepped into a life-sized fishbowl - then his scar throbbed and burnt with heat, the world turned green and spun furiously and he heard a high, faint flutelike tone - a bit like the buzzing of a swarm of agitated mosquitoes. He stopped moving, till his sensations settled, tentatively took a small step and another and another. His ears now popped, and the burning sensation moved to his back. He jumped to the other side of the barrier and suddenly all the sensations stopped. Immediately. His clothes were dry again and the sky turned a very normal, pale gray and the eroded, sparse little stumps of grass turned yellow-green again, some even that recognizable yellowy-red colour you often see on sloped grass lawns next to highways and industrial areas. the mud was still - at least at the over-trodden pathway - littered with some few colourful, mostly colourless, pressed-into-the-ground candy wrappers, pieces of over-used parchment and, even though it was still quite early in the year, leaves galore. The lake up ahead hardly looked green or blue, but was mostly a pale shade gray matching the sky and the water was awfully turbulent and sprayed bucket load after bucket load of tiny droplets of water over the uninviting looking, rocky cliffs. Harry just simply loved it.

' _Hey mate,_ ' Harry heard Ron yell quite close to him ' _hurry up, or we will lose sight of the rest._ ' They quickly stepped up to a little, muddy - though maybe a bit less wrapper-ridden - pathway that seemed to mostly consist of a silver coulored mixture of clay and mud that one often sees on worn, plantless, mostly badly maintained, slopes. In their haste Harry tripped over a hidden, knotty tree root, stumbled, fell on top of Ron, who proceeded to fall face-first in the mud. ' _Well, at least the mud matches the colour of this bloody robe_ ' Harry agreed, but still had the sense to keep silent. Ron's secondhand robe wasn't the usual black, but looked awfully worn and took up a grayish colour, it was also ripped and torn, but that, however, seemed to be sort of repaired by a badly preformed magic spell. ' _Ron,_ ' Harry started hesitatingly, when they both stood up and wiped the worst part of the mud off their robes ' _where are all the other people? Are you sure we haven't took the wrong turn?_ '. ' _I'll be jitterbugged Harry, I saw them head yonder,_ ' Ron answered 'but _we'd better hurry up. My dear brother Fred said the boats left without him when he first attended Hogwarts._ ' This surprised Harry who almost unintentionally said: ' _Godswallop Ron, that sounds medieval, to just leave kids at their own bidding!_ '

They both hurried up, trying their best not to slide again, what just barely succeeded thanks to an enormous tree. ' _Ron,_ ' Harry said when they took a short breather ' _didya you also feel a strange sensation when you walked through that barrier back there? Something a bit like a wave of heat and the sound of twenty kettles and -_ '. ' _Blimey Harry,_ ' Ron replied, a bit more surprised than Harry felt was necessary ' _that was just dried and warmed us up! Are you really complaining about that? I'd walk through that gate all day, rather dan being wet like this!_ ' Harry decided to just keep his mouth shut and decided to focus on his surroundings. They were on some kind of semi-wooded trail, probably mainly used by animals. The undergrowth consisted mostly of brambly bushes with longer than usual needles and the lower brambleless branches carried dark green leaves in the shape of those on a hawthorn. The grass here looked greener and more plump than on the main trail and the ground was covered with some leave like plant. He saw some big insects looking similar to an oversized dragonfly, and noticed some ugly looking gnomes tugging and digging at some root.

The rain still sprayed in their red, raw faces and the wind took away any heat they had left and were chilled to the bone. Harry looked over to the hill and saw the girl with the light-brown hair standing up there, seemingly waiting for someone or something, Harry secretly hoped she was waiting for him. ' _See that girl yonder,_ ' Ron said to Harry ' _that's this Daphne Greengrass, her dad, Cyrus, gave the ministry a not inconsiderable amount of trouble last year and wounded my dad in a big fight last year… He got away with it saying he was under the Imperius curse…_ ' ' _What?_ ' Harry cried out ' _What is an Imperius? Is there a ministry for magicians? Is your dad healed now?_ '. Those questions had to wait for another time though, the girl had come up to them and quickly - between two gasps for air- said ' _Hey, you two! They're all waiting down there for you guys, it's bloody likely that they would have left by now!_ ' She smiled radiantly at Harry and Ron, but Harry didn't miss that she pressed her lips just a bit more tightly in response to Ron's frown, she quickly added ' _What in Merlin's beard have you done to your robes!_ ' as if his precarious robe situation was the reason for his bad mood and not, what she feared, their parents' fight in the last wizarding war.

' _Why Daphne_ , _Your Daphne, right, would they leave without us? Don't they count the amount of students before they leave to Hogwarts or something?_ ' Harry said to his right, noticing she was about an inch taller than he was and a small birthmark on the bone of her nose. They started walking, Harry in the center, because Daphne and Ron - Ron was mostly to blame - refused to walk next to each other. He didn't really worry too much about it, because he enjoyed walking between them, but was slightly wary something really nasty would happen between the two later - maybe one of the twin Weasleys would pull a horrible prank. ' _Yeah, I'm Daphne all right._ ' she replied ' _You must be Harry, aren't you? And you must one of those Weasleys._ ' Stating the last part more like a fact, than a question. ' _Sure I am, Greengrass_ ' emphasizing the last word with a slight malevolent glitter in his eyes. She then turned at Harry ' _So, anyway, Hagrid_ _was saying like we looked awfully cold - what we most certainly were - and like he didn't have any clue how many students there would be, so I told him you were missing and he sent me off to fetch you. I have no clue how he could forget you, though, Harry, but then again everyone looks pretty much the same in those wet robes, with dark, wet hair._ ' He was never really good at talking, so was quite happy someone would do that for him and looked ahead and saw they were heading towards a sandy bay with a wooden port, which seemed to be located in a windless spot, for the water was dead still and unearthly wrinkleless and a dark shade of black instead of the pale gray they had seen earlier.

Hagrid, mustered a sigh of relief hen he saw Harry, Ron and Daphne hobbling down the steep trail leading towards the little, wooden dockyard with twenty or so small, probably magical boats. ' _What didya take so much time for Harry? Got lost? We'd've almost left if Daphne hadn't reminded us of your absence. One point for whatever house you'll be in._ ' He boomed in his usual low voice ' _Y'all must be desperate for some warmth, damned be those who lost their way, get on those boats. quickly!_ ' ' _Potter,_ ' Malfoy began sneeringly ' _can't_ _you even get to the boats on time._ ' ' _I'll tell you why,_ ' his pale, gray eyes now flared ' _it's the fault of that blood traitor_ ' He looked directly at Harry now, his eyes slightly changing its form adding a slight hopeful glint, barely to noticed and continued saying ' _I am giving you another chance, you don't want to be making friends with sort!_ ' Harry standing up a bit straighter, replied ' _If you'd quit bullying and stop your petty interactions with those yon,_ ' pointing toward Crabbe and Goyle ' _I'll give you a chance, but until then: Goodbye, Malfoy_ '. This comment earned him some appraising looks from his future classmates, Ron ,however, didn't look pleased, whispering so none but Harry would hear ' _'Sblood, you gave wreched, slant pig-faced gargoyle a chance?!_ ' ' _Yes in fact I did,_ ' Harry replied quite bluntly and in a low whisper continued ' _and while we're at it, let's get a boat before we'll have to be on one with Malfoy._ '

The gods, however, weren't so merciful, during their little fight all the boats were taken so Harry, Malfoy, Daphne and Ron had to get on the boat with Neville, now clutching a fat toad, and Hermione. Hermione and Neville were so annoying that even Malfoy's fat cronies decided against waiting for their 'master' Malfoy and, much to Draco's dismay, got on a, now full, boat with some other burly-looking boys, rather than having to join be on a boat with Hermione and Neville. ' _Well, yer herry up now, what are yeh waitin' for?_ ' Hagrid's bearded voice sounded, attracting all attention from everyone and tapping his umbrella - distorting light all around - first on the side of his boat, then waving it at each of the other boats, just as Harry clambered in next to Daphne. The boats moved forward through the water suddenly, gliding slowly forward as the water parted neatly to let the boat move through. The water on the lake, just outside of the bay - for that was all they could see, due to the extensive vegetation - looked choppy and promised many bucketloads of water in Harry's collar. The trees were partly underwater because of the lake had over the course of the week flooded to an, unknown to all but Hagrid, unusually high size, which would cause some severe difficulties crossing the lake and mooring later, but decided to focus on the fact that _leaving_ the bay would be easy. His memories were drawn back to times when the little, mosquito infested bay consisted out of nothing but a few puddles, a silty underground littered with shellfish-covered rocks and the first-years had to help him _haul_ the boats over to the estuary.

The usual mosquitoes weren't out - probably to spare their fragile wings from the heavy rainfall - and a fresh smell of wet earth and basil was faintly leaking out of the woods surrounding the intrepid boat-riders. Harry was sitting on a rickety boat - it was a wonder the boat hadn't already collapsed probably due to some hard spellwork - that was way too small, so all their legs and feet were pressed together, a pleasure for Daphne, Harry _and_ strangely enough Malfoy, who was squeezed against the hook-faced girl and the front of the boat. It was unfortunate, though, for Ron and Hermione, who were trying to move a far away from each other as possible and Neville, who sat next to Hermione, happily reaped the benefits of their discomfort. It was only because the rain made their cheeks raw and red, their hair stick to their faces and the slowly fading sunlight from behind the clouds that they weren't able to notice the blushing - or in Hermione's and Ron's case flushed - faces. As they slowly made their way towards the lake - they were about halfway and no-one dared to break the silence, Harry decided to look at the situation on the different boats, conveniently allowing him to look over Daphne's shoulder and noticed the enormous variety of groups. There were four or five boats with mixed groups, precariously avoiding to touch each other too much, but failing without exception - Harry didn't really see the point of sitting on a boat in mixed groups if you didn't want to be touching each other. There were three boat quite literally filled to the brim with big, burly boys (in a traditional school they would be called the footballers) speaking, perhaps just grunting together. A bit farther away there was a group of girls talking away animatedly and bursting into giggles after seeing him look their way. ' _Blimey_ ' Malfoy said 'those were some high waves!' ' _Pheh_ ,' Daphne interjected ' _I do agree with you there, Draco_ ' Hermione responded with a snort and a pretentious voice, ' _Well, if you had read Hogwarts: A History, you would have known that on at least thirty-eight separate occasions, the water was much higher than this. In 1873 five first-years were even found dead!_ ' ' _You can say what you want, Hermione, but I'm bloody happy those waves don't reach us anymore!_ ' Ron said, sounding relieved.

The conversation had drifted back and forth, mostly falling apart in Malfoy, Harry and Daphne talking, Hermione, Neville and Ron talking together talking, but at times Harry and Ron started talking, leaving Daphne and Malfoy in a deep conversation ' _Look over there_ ' Harry said after a while pointing at the contours of a castle looming up ahead in the distance, which magically appeared when they had left the foliage behind them, drawing all the attention and starting a huge fit of oohing and ahhing. ' _That's quite some castle'_ Neville said elated. ' _Well, in 1786-_ ' Hermione tried to respond, what Malfoy, however, interrupted sneeringly saying ' _Spare us the boring details, just shut up and enjoy the sight._ ' They all took Malfoy's tip to heart; they all looked intently at the castle with many turrets. Harry saw the castle was on top of a big jagged expanse of rock - probably flattened out on the surface and rose high up in the sky the many turrets, probably twenty, stuck out at odd angels with slanted roofs. The base was covered green by moss and lichen and brown by age-old rust and the walls were covered in windows, sparkling radiantly with magic. He saw many birds of prey flying over or nesting one the high towers, looking down hungrily at the new assortment of fresh food - the first years. Around the castle was a great stretch of land, probably grassy, with parts branching out all around, some even to the east side of the lake (the leeside), where there were no rocks, but a sandy beach and a whole bunch of trees: Ash, willows a huge knobby one Harry didn't know the name of. To the west of the castle there were enormous woods stretching as far as the eye could see sloping up into some huge, ice-capped mountains.

They finally neared the castle and a lot of people were wondering how they would scale the deep black slate of rock, sticking out uninvitingly or even come close to it, without the boats crashing and breaking (the waves were quickly getting more powerful now), when the boats suddenly stopped in their tracks. Hagrid now stood up and swung his wand impressively, precariously balancing on his tiny boat shooting streams of water out of the way of the boats and, somehow, lowering the level of the water one foot, then two, then four feet below the level of the rest of the lake, uncovering a previously hidden cave (still covered in different, colourful seaweeds and kelp, with plenty shellfish shells hanging down, giving it the look of an oriental curtain with beads). His wand was furiously vibrating due to the effort of maintaining his spellwork as if he were casting _himself_ there before all the water and was personally pushing it away. Swinging his wand around, he simultaneously forced his boat to the mouth of the cave, jumped up on the land, in doing so shattering his boat, which he fixed which a thoughtless flick of the wand and proceeded forcing away the water, now standing on more stable ground. ' _Yeh hurry up now_ ' he said in a shaking voice at all the kids partly frozen in indecision, partly in awe of the impressive display of magic, who jumped off the boats in an almost scared manner. ' _Will you let go of my hand now, Harry_ ' Daphne said semi-scolding and half laughingly - they hadn't stopped holding hands after the water had stilled. Harry jumped up, looked at his hand, into Daphne's face and let go of the hand he had forgotten he was holding. One by one they filled up the cave behind Hagrid. ' _Yeh go up those stairs now, I'll be up there in a minute._ '

Harry walked up the slippery, covered with seaweed - it had been underwater of the better part of a month - and very, very small and steep steps and was forced upward by an enormous mass of hungry children, which incidentally prevented him falling, what would have been quite easy due to the lack of railing. After a few minutes or so in cramped claustrophobia, Harry and his fellow students stood, many lied, gasping for air out on an enormous, grassy courtyard not at all minding the mud or wrappers sniffing up the thick air, having their nausea and seasickness being flushed away by the cold night air and the occasional, thick raindrop. Many looked up to the huge castle towering up like one of the many skyscrapers in London. Hagrid, his forehead beaded with sweat and with an air of exhaustion, lead them up to the enormous steps at the front of the castle and swung open the enormous doors.

 **A/N** Should I make Draco fall in love with anyone (repriprocally or not), for example with Harry or Hermione or even Daphne? Give suggestions please if you do/don't want to see something like that!


	3. The broom cabinet

**Disclaimer** I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, that right belongs to JK Rowling.  
 **A/N** The last chapter before the sorting, hang in there you all!  
 **Summary** Before Harry and his friends get sorted into the four different Hogwarts houses, McGonagall will give some necessary pointers about the expected behavior at Hogwarts.

* * *

The Sorting ceremony - The broom cabinet

Hagrid moved over to the enormous wood and steel doors that formed the main entrance to the medieval-looking Hogwarts castle, flexing his steel, tanned muscles and tugged open one door - with a little help of a well-placed foot on the other door - which hardly made a sound (except for some highly necessary squeaking noise that goes, as a rule, with large, wooden doors), then stepped over to the inside and lightly pushed away the other door. He guffawed at the awestruck faces of the ickle, new students and said wiping a slight layer of moisture, crusted sweat and fresh mud from his over-sized forehead ' _Well, in you go, firs'-years. Firs' time in is always the best._ ' If the first time would be the best, Harry didn't know but the alluring grandeur of the enormous entrance hall built in some kind of gothic style looked pretty sweet to him. Huge candles as wide as lampposts were held up by gold and silver many-layered chandeliers with matching candleholders all around the tall walls, that after a meter or thirty, sloped gently upwards opening up to an arched, stained-glass window. At the two opposite ends of the room were roaring fireplaces that, somehow, distributed their warmth equally over the high-roofed hallway, which vaguely gave Harry the impression magic was involved, and warmed up the extensively-chiseled, well-shaped, stone floor, too, giving the room a cozy and welcoming feeling - Harry would later acknowledge he'd have traded his sizable, new room at the Dursleys any time for this stone floor (though his soon to be acquired pleasant memories would be quite a contributing factor).

The rather large looking entrance hall absorbed the mud-splattered kids with remarkable ease, fanning out to goggle at the walls or inspect the giant sized, armed suits of armor or the remarkable door with many peculiar locks - some small, a few large ones, a few a purple or pinkish shade, many green, blue and amber, some even slightly moving from place to place, there were a few rectangular locks, but most were somehow oblong - but most of them herded around one of the two fireplaces, though. ' _I'll be back in a min', folks,_ ' Hagrid said already heading out two a second set of doors opposite from the huge set-in-steel portal with many different, most peculiar looking locks and with a backward swish of the wand and a deafening _click_ he locked up the doors for the night. ' _You there,_ ' he shouted in a voice atypical from his usual demeanor, stepping menacingly - his chiseled muscles showing - at a now cowering, rather large (still tiny compared to Hagrid) first-year ' _don' even try throwin' anyone in that fireplace, or you'll be in there before you can say Hogwarts!_ ' Leaving the hall in awkward silence, only worsening it by walking over to Harry, standing nearby with Ron and Daphne (Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle were standing at the other fireplace and Neville and Hermione were entranced by the suits of armor and locks respectively and all the other first-years were still an unknown blur to him) warming themselves on one of the Spartan, badly manufactured benches manufactured from three pieces of wood near the fireplace and crushing him under his giant hands, the nails filthy by age-old mud that finds its way in saying ' _All righ', there Harry? Yeh looking awfully ill there._ ' before proceeding with his usual, lengthy treads out of the hallway, banging the large doors by accident.

' _Look up, Daphne_ ' Harry said, poking her gently in her unprotected side and pointing upward with his other, that is left, hand at a group of five paintings hanging above the fireplace. ' _What is it, Harry_ ' Daphne answered looking questioningly up at the waving figures in the frames. ' _They're moving_ ' Harry replied stressing the last word. ' _My god, Harry,_ ' Daphne said with a sigh ' _are you telling me you've never seen pictures with moving imagery?_ ' ' _Well, I guess chocolate frogs are similar and -_ ' Harry spluttered, but Daphne interrupted ' _You were raised by muggles, weren't you?_ ' ' _Yeah, -_ ' Harry answered, before Daphne continued ' _My mom told me, they also have these moving pictures on a big large box, that muggles sit at for hours on end a day_ ' ' _Well, you're right, but still, don't you agree it looks amazing…_ ' Harry said mesmerized, continuing to look up at the paintings showing many different scenes, there was one showing tough-looking British soldiers exercising on a savanna, probably somewhere on the south-coast of Africa, another showed two proud, tired mountaineers standing on top of a barren outcrop of rock on a sunny cloudless day and again another, Harry's favorite, showed two sweaty wizards in the middle of a duel in a library, throwing spells and jinxes at each other making a mess in the - probably - once neat, ordered bookreaders heaven. the other two, however were less interesting (they showed some old, half-dead wizards sitting on a couch in deep thought, alternately puffing away on a fat cigar that would make his uncle smile or sipping from a colourful, refilling liquor glass and a whole bunch of old women jumping up and down on a couch). As Harry sat there peacefully in the warm firelight Daphne gently put her arm on Harry's far shoulder and whispered softly into his ear, as if making up for her bold shouting ' _It's quite some magic isn't it._ '

Their little moment of peace and quiet sitting next to each other, Daphne's head leaning against Harry's shoulder, however, was quickly over; the sternest looking woman Harry had ever seen, casting an air as if you'd do better not to cross her with a single toenail out of line, stood in the doorway Hagrid had recently left, slamming it equally hard - causing Harry and Daphne to jump apart and move away from each other to, blushingly, look at some school artifacts - mumbling something along the line of 'Bloody smearjinxes!' to herself. 'Alright everyone, what are you staring at, follow me now quickly!' she said pointing her long, bony finger to a place somewhere far away beyond the door she had entered in, hastily adding 'Don't touch that, will you' to Neville holding out his finger close to a badly held, iron sword in the hands of a metal outfit, which was looking crossly and slightly annoyed - as far as lifeless objects can express feelings - at its new admirer. She stepped away quickly saying ' _Hurry up now, I don't want any stragglers._ '

The first-years filled behind the stern schoolteacher, Daphne walking next to a black-haired girl leaving Draco and Harry walking next to each other. ' _It's quite amazing, isn't it!_ ' Harry said to Draco, who answered quite enthusiastically ' _It is so much better than I had imagined it! I have been dreaming of this place since my dad told me about it as a little kid! Didn't you ever hear about Hogwarts as a child?_ ' ' _No_ ' Harry said sadly ' _My aunt and uncle hid all the letters and pretended magic didn't exist. They even tried to bully the magic out of me..._ ' ' _That seems rough, I wonder why you had to grow up there, wait till my father hears about this, he might let you stay at our house during the vacations._ ' Draco said sympathetically ' _I'd love to Draco. Spending my vacation with someone nice is always than to be with those gits._ ' Adding extra venom to the last word ' _Well, they're muggles, right,'_ Draco with a slight frown ' _You can't be too hard on them, they know hardly nothing about magic, and more often than not are quite afraid of it. My dad is quite negative about muggles, too negative, if you ask me. You know, I think it has to do with some boy Richard, Richard was dad's best friend, but my granddad got really angry, just because his parents were muggles. Lucius, my dad, never really got over it and doesn't really speak too much about it..._ ' Draco looked up with fear written on his face and quickly whispered ' _Please don't tell him I said that, though._ ' ' _Of course not,_ ' Harry said reassuring him and also added a bit surprised 'w _hy would I ever do that?_ ' ' _I'm sorry, mate, for being so negative..._ ' Draco finally said. 'Please don't be, Harry answered, you talking to me walking through Hogwarts is about the best thing that could have happened to me! Look around, you're missing an impressive sight looking down at the ground and staring into my face.' These words (mostly the last four), that Harry stated quite matter-of-factly, made Draco blush scarlet, who now hastily looked up and around at the high-domed atrium, what expanded quite far in width -still small in length - leading up to a large set of oakwood doors and many other doors of different shapes and sizes. There was a bright light streaming out from under the door and Harry heard a lot of laughing and talking.

' _Before we head through those doors and join the feast,_ ' the stern-looking teacher said ' _I'll first give you some useful information about the proceedings here at Hogwarts._ ' Adding a ' _Hurry up now_ ' at the kids, Ron included, that hadn't immediately jumped up and moved towards her. Harry, who was previously standing between Daphne, brushing his' hands slightly, noticed with a slight frown that Ron had just jumped up towards Malfoy's side of him, what caused Malfoy to move over to Daphne to not have to stand next to Ron and hoped with all his might no feud would ensue. ' _Hopefully we eat soon, I think I could be gnawing off my leg soon._ ' Ron said hungrily, which they all agreed to with a nod. Harry looked over and saw - for a mere split second - the familiar shimmering all around him again and found him (and most of his future classmates) staring at a group of ghosts minding their business and floating out of some kind of cabinet till one of them, a fat old lady, said ' _Look, over there first years!_ ' A pale-silver roobed ghost with streaks of blood and a rusty steel chain answered by saying with a bored expression and a monotonous, low voice ' _So what?_ ' a ghost pushing one one ear with all his might, as if he feared his head would flop of responded, pointing at a tiny previously unnoticed freckled boy ' _It seems like they get smaller every year, look at that one there!_ ' ' _You all please join the feast, these kids need to hear about the proceedings here at school_ ' McGonagall said strictly at the herd of dazed first-years while holding out the door of a very dimly lit broom cabinet that seemed to expand to fit in the horde of kids. There were no decorations and only a crackling, dimly burning candle broke the silence and the thick, all-covering darkness.

She was looking fiercely at the new students and said in a loud, perhaps magically magnified voice, so everyone could hear ' _Well, welcome here at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, you all look a bit tired and hungry, but before you go to the feast, I need to sketch the proceedings here at Hogwarts, give a tiny introduction to the classes and school rules. Firstly my name is Minerva McGonnagall, you'll address me and all the other members of staff with professor and their last name. Now that is out of the way I am going to tell something about the Hogwarts houses; during your stay here at Hogwarts you will be sorted into four houses - Gryfindor, Rafenclaw, Huffelpuf or Slytherin - named after the four proud founders of this school. The sorting will happen using a speaking, thinking hat. Your future house will be quite like a family during your stay, you'll build friendships with your fellow members. You'll also sleep with your gender's first-year housemates and will probably find to spend most of your time in your future common room. The different houses will be lead by different heads of staff, who won't be prejudiced against members from outside of their house._ ' She stated in a tone suggestion annoyance against something unknown to her host, but quickly continued ' _The four houses will be filled with students who have roughly the same traits and characteristics as the founders themselves; Gryffindor, my house, is a house well suited for the brave and chivalrous, you also have Ravenclaw, which is perfect for the smart, intelligent and more importantly the wise, there is also Slytherin, the house for the smart, the cunning and ambitious and lastly there is Hufflepuf, a house of acceptance, perfect for the kind at heart and well-meaning. Lately, however, there has been the question if separating students in different houses is a bit out-dated, because it causes enmity, segregation and spite, but many parents, the head of house and the board of the school are strongly opposed against this idea._ ' She said, looking over at each and every one of the faces of the new students adding ' _I hope, and would be very disappointed, if you let that be a reason of not making friends outside of your house._ ' ' _Trevor,_ ' Neville shouted jumping up at an anxious looking frog that seemed to be trying to plot an escape and quickly added ' _Sorry professor_ ' when he saw the stern look in her eyes.

' _Your house will share another thing too,_ ' McGonnagall briskly proceeded ' _you should note well we have a system of house points, house points are a token of well-behaving, break school rules, you lose points, any triumphs earn points. The house with most points will win the house cup and receive preferential treatment during the end-of-term feast. So, you ask, what are the school rules._ ' She fired at the first-years, dreaming away of good food and soft beds ' _Please pay attention_ ' She shouted before continuing ' _First and foremost we have a strict curfew from ten to six, which entails that no-one, under any circumstance other threat of death, should be outside of the common room then. The first three years may not visit the forbidden forest without permission and being under supervision of a teacher. Leaving the grounds of Hogwarts without parental permission is prohibited, the gate is located just outside of Hogsmeade station on the other side of the lake. The third floor corridor on the right hand side is also out of bounds. You may not swim or boat the great lake unless under staff supervision. Faculty area's like the staff lounge, the restricted library-section, kitchens and empty classrooms may not be entered without a teachers permission. One may also not visit other common rooms than the your house's. You are expected to come on time to your classes and skipping classes will be punished severely. Fighting in or outside of class is prohibited. Offending teachers will be punished, too. Magic may only be used for self defense, class-work or practicing as homework assignment. You'll be expected to wear your full outfit outside of the common room. You'll also be able to earn house points, by behaving well or doing a good job in class. You can find the complete list of school rules on the door of our caretaker Filch's office, you are well advised to take a closer look at them._ '

' _But the most important aspect of Hogwarts is undeniably the magical education._ _Each first-year student will be take a standard first-year curriculum,_ ' McGonagall continued ' _there, however, will be multiple options spread over the year to expand your knowledge in one or more topics in smaller, higher level seminars. Every student will be expected to take one of these extra classes, but will also be able to attend multiple of these._ ' ' _As if that would ever happen._ ' Draco whispered to Harry, McGonagall, who overheard them, said ' _That will happen, you'll be awarded points if you pass the test, but I'll warn you now, the exams and class work in those classes will be much more challenging then normally. Now, there are sixteen classes, four of which you will keep over the course of your seven years at Hogwarts; History of Magic, Practice of Magic. Theory of Magic and Communication of Magic, which will teach you the essentials of magic, like Writing, speaking in front of crowds, basic and necessary magic knowledge and useful skills like wand movement and dueling and most importantly how to control magic. You'll also be learning the basics of transfiguration - the art of turning one thing into another - potions - the art of brewing useful concoctions - Defence Against the Dark Arts - The study of protecting against magic, in any form - Charms - to learn useful magical incantations - Herbology - the study of magical plants - Astronomy - the study of stars and their influence on magic - and lastly Ancient Runes - the study of the runes and ancient European language. There are also five subjects that are compulsory during your first year but can be chosen in other years, too; there is flying - a useful way of commuting and good exercise - Arithmancy - the art of prediction by use of numbers - Divination - the 'art' of prediction by random signs - Care of Magical Creatures - to gain highly necessary skills of curing creatures illnesses and domesticating them - and last but not least there is Muggle Studies, which will give a broad overview of muggle life and how our laws intervene with their laws. If you fail at more than four of these subjects you'll be asked to double a year and, though it's quite rare, some students ask for a repeat in their fifth or seventh year to have a better chance at their future job.'_ But then her voice perked up _'I see you're all tired and hungry, I've done my talking so let's head out to the great hall and get you sorted!'_ As a troop they marched back to the well lit entrance hall and looked over to the light and laughter streaming out from under the central door and Harry and Daphne had their hands brushing together.

 **A/N** I think the second chapter and the description of the classes are kind of shitty, please PM or review some pointers for improvement!

* * *

 **A/N** What do you think of this schedule and these classes?

 **Classes**

 _Base_ :

1\. Practice of Magic: Movement (1POM:M)

2\. Theory of Magic: Detection (1TOM:D)

3\. History of Magic: Origins (1HOM:O)

4\. Communication of Magic: Control (1COM:C)

 _Core_ :

5\. Transfiguration (1TRNS-1)

6\. Charms (1CHRM-1)

7\. Potions (1PTNS-1)

8\. Defence Against the Dark Arts (1DADA-1)

9\. Astronomy (1ASTR-1)

10\. Herbology (1HERB-1)

11\. Study of Ancient Runes (1SRNS-1)

 _Compulsory first-year subjects_ :

13\. Arithmancy (1ARTM)

14\. Muggle Studies (1MGLS)

15\. Divination (1DIVI)

16\. Care of Magical Creatures (1CAMC)

16\. Flying (1FLNG)

* * *

Slytherin Timetable 1st trimester:

TIME/DAY MON TUE WED THUR FRI

8.30-9.30 1POM:M-.- 1TOM:D- 1HOM:O 1COM:C 1TOM:D

9.40-10.40 1ARTM-.- 1MGLS-.- 1DIVI-.- 1CAMC-. 1MGLS

11.00-12.00 1HOM:O 1COM:C 1TOM:D 1POM:M 1POM:M

13.30-15.00 1TRNS-1 1PTNS-1 1CHRM-1 1DADA-1 1FLNG-1

15.10-16.40 1TRNS-1 1PTNS-1 1HERB-1 1SRNS-1 1FLNG-1

17.00-18.30 EXTRA-.- EXTRA-.- EXTRA-.- EXTRA-. EXTRA

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- CHRM-.-. DADA-.-. HERB-.-.- SRNS-.- FLNG

23.00-1.00 -.-.-.-.-.- 1ASTR-1 -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- EXTRA

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. ASTR

* * *

(. and - are used to keep all the scedule well organised and clear (this site doesn't support multiple spaces))


End file.
